Taste and Smell
by MeeCee
Summary: Sai has questions.  Sakura believes in the scientific method.
1. The Kissing

1. I suggest Googling "carrel" if you don't know what it is. It's a minor detail, but hey, a new word added to your vocabulary is always a good thing.

2. I was going for funny-cute, not really funny-ha-ha. Please adjust your expectations accordingly.

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><p>Sakura was holding open a medical scroll and jotting down notes when she felt it. Something shifted in the air next to her right ear. She tensed momentarily before snapping her head to the side and nearly slamming her nose directly into Sai's face before instinctively pulling back. He cocked his head to the side contemplatively and leaned a little closer to her again, undeterred by the sudden flurry of motion. "You smell like," he took a deep breath, "shampoo," inhale "detergent," a longer inhale as he furrowed his brows together "and, something else. Skin maybe? I'm not sure what you'd call it." He promptly disappeared back behind the divider between their carrels and his voice became muted. "Not like strawberries or wind or cut grass" he mused and Sakura could hear the faint scratching of a pen on paper.<p>

"What?" she blurted out, so thoroughly confused she couldn't manage to be either embarrassed or angry that _Sai just smelled me_.

Sai reappeared, a book in hand. "I was researching friendship, which lead to romantic relationships and I thought it would be useful to read a romance novel, but it's been rather confusing." The book was annotated with small colored tabs, his hand holding open a page marked in blue. "The descriptions of the main characters don't seem to be realistic."

Fighting back a blush, Sakura reach over and tipped the book up so she could see the cover. She recognized the cover art as a novel she'd seen Ino with recently. She had met Ino and Hinata for lunch a few days ago and the two had talked excitedly about it. From what she could remember it was about a boy and a girl who were in love but couldn't be together for some reason or another. Ino had just kept declaring "he's sooooo hot" and Hinata would nod and sigh "and soooo romantic" and they'd stare dreamily off into the middle distance for a moment before continuing their conversation. Sakura had quickly tired of looking over her shoulder to see what they were staring at (nothing) and managed to steer the conversation elsewhere.

She relaxed. It wasn't Icha Icha. She could handle this and maybe she now was just a little bit curious herself. "What doesn't make sense?"

"The author describes the female lead as 'smelling like wind on a cool day'. How could a human smell like wind? Wind carries other smells, but it doesn't have an odor itself. And then another time," Sai flipped to another blue tabbed page, "she's described as smelling like cinnamon. But the characters had just spent the night together in a barn. It seems unlikely that she would smell like cinnamon after such an event."

Sakura nodded, it didn't particularly make any sense. She had always read those sort of passages without any real thought to the realism of them, but Sai saw everything from a very different perspective. "Why did you smell me, though?"

Sai looked up from the book at her. "I wondered if maybe there was something I had missed. Maybe women while they're teenagers smell differently to attract men. I hadn't read anything in any of my biology references, but I thought it would be useful to investigate this myself."

"So I don't smell good?" Sakura suddenly felt a bit self-conscious.

"You smell fine. Very clean." Sai had already returned to his book, but had now pulled his chair around so it was facing her. He flipped this time to a red tabbed page. "Here," he said, turning the book towards her slightly, "the male main character is described as smelling like 'the forest after the rain.' Now that is a very particular odor and I grant that it is pleasant in a way, but again it is unlikely that a person would themselves smell like that when not in the woods after it had rained." Sakura glanced at the page, but Sai was on a roll now. "In fact, all the smell related references to the male lead are very nature based. Here," he flipped to another blue tabbed page, "cut grass. Here," a new page "dried leaves. The character is a son of a wealthy merchant; I don't understand why he would smell like that."

Sakura laughed. "I think the author is trying to make him seem either a bit wild or," she thought for a moment, tapping her pen against the desktop, "maybe earthy and therefore safe."

"Earthy smells imply safety?"

"Kind of? I hadn't really thought of this too much before. The girl is probably just supposed to smell good. I guess the wind thing could imply wildness too."

Sai nodded thoughtfully. "Her character has to be convinced to have a relationship with the male. She declares early on that she will never get married."

"Ah, then maybe the transition from wind to cinnamon is supposed to represent her settling down." Sakura was enjoying herself now. It was a shame that the literature courses at the ninja academy were so perfunctory. This was kind of fun.

"So it's just a literary device?"

"Probably. I think they tell authors to try to engage all the reader's senses or something. It's supposed to make the scene more compelling. Or something."

"They?" Sai asked, mid note taking.

"Argh, I don't know. People who teach writing?" Why did Sai have to be so literal?

He nodded and turned fully back to his carrel to add to his list of notes. "It makes more sense now. Thank you."

Sakura smiled to herself and returned to her scroll. The last few weeks had been strangely pleasant. She would spend the mornings in the library doing research for Tsunade, eat lunch with Ino or Hinata if they were available, then train in the afternoon after watching Naruto and Kakashi for a bit. Sai had taken to joining her in the carrels about a week earlier. This corner of the library was so remote and empty that it didn't matter if he asked her questions about his own research into relationships and emotions. It had been a bit tiresome at first, but now she was getting the hang of his questions and seeming non sequiturs.

Ten minutes passed. "Sakura?"

"Yes, Sai?" she responded, not looking up from her notes. She could feel that he had turned towards her again in his chair.

"This seems to be related to the smell literary device, but it could be more plausible. When the characters kiss, the female lead is always described as tasting like strawberries or sweet things." Sakura looked up at him, unsure of what he was going to say or suggest next. Sai was still intent on the book, this time the page was marked with a yellow tab. "I guess," he said, looking up at her, his brows quirked slightly, "that she could have eaten something sweet and it stayed with her."

"I guess…" Sakura drew out slowly. Where was this going?

Sai nodded looking back down at the page. "They don't talk about what she ate though and how long ago it was. What did you have for breakfast?"

_And, yes, this IS where this is going_ Sakura thought to herself. "Toast with jam, yogurt, and some tea" she replied, her tone guarded. _Probably._

Face now as blank as an ANBU mask he asked "do you think you'd still taste like those things?"

Sakura sucked her teeth. "Possibly, I don't really know."

"Could I taste you?"

Only Sai could pose a question like that – so that it sounded perfectly innocent and perfectly filthy at the same time. He somehow hadn't actually equated it with kissing her though. That was odd. And odder still, Sakura was suddenly curious. Did she still taste like her breakfast? What would Sai taste like? What would it be like to kiss Sai? Sakura hadn't kissed anyone yet and was starting to worry that when she finally did her lack of experience would be embarrassing. Well, here was a pretty low pressure opportunity. The boy hadn't even made the connection.

"Uh, sure, why not?" She let out a long breath and turned fully towards him. Sai leaned forward and Sakura closed her eyes and tried to relax. _This is just a science experiment. Try to pay attention to the details._ His lips were on hers and his mouth was slightly open. _Warm_ her mind registered. His lips were soft on hers as he held them there momentarily before swiping his tongue into her mouth. Her eyes shot open to catch Sai pulling away looking thoughtful_. Does that count? Aren't you supposed to open and close your mouth? That tongue thing is weird._

"You don't taste like jam or toast" he said slowly. He leaned back in, catching her chin this time with his hand to hold her in place and pressed his lips to hers again. This time Sakura pressed back a bit, closed her mouth slightly and then opened it again. _That's how it works, I think_. Sai pulled back, but held on to her chin. "You don't taste like yogurt or tea either." He looked somewhat confused.

"What do I taste like then?" Sakura felt just a little bit breathy for a moment. _That wasn't terrible._

"You tasted like…" he paused and dropped her chin "like warm. Can you taste like warm? That doesn't even make sense." He now looked hopelessly confused.

She laughed. "I guess. I mean, that's the only way I could describe how you tasted." Sai looked surprised; he apparently hadn't realized that this could be a two directional investigation. "It wasn't a bad taste, you tasted pretty nice." She felt giddy. She had done it.

"I wonder if everyone tastes different. It seems like they would," he mused. _Now there's an idea._ Who else could she kiss as an experiment? Sai seemed to be looking around thinking the same thing and began to gather up his books. _Uh oh, I better nip this in the bud before it gets out of hand._

"Sai, I wouldn't go around asking people if you can taste them," she started. Sai turned back to her in askance. "Um, we just kissed, you realize."

Sai blinked. "I guess we did. I hadn't thought of it that way."

"Yeah," Sakura measured out, "I didn't either until just now." _You are such a little liar._ "It was, uh, an experiment. So it's best not to just go up to people asking to taste them. Unless you want to kiss them. But still that's probably not the best line."

"Line?"

"Uh, I'll explain that tomorrow?" _I think I need to get myself out of here before I cause any more damage._ "I need to take this up to Tsunade now," she said and began hastily gathering her things.

Sai nodded, "thank you, Sakura. I appreciate the help and understanding."

She was going straight to hell. She grinned up at him, "anytime, Sai."

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><p>Cools, I wrote another story. This was much, much faster to write which hopefully reflects that writing fluffy humor is easier than angst rather than reflecting poorly upon the quality of the writing. This might be a small commentary on the over-use of "Sakura tasted like cherries" I see sometimes. Like cherries? Who tastes like cherries? And who smells like "the woods"? I've hiked a decent portion of the Appalachian Trail and those people in the woods hiking the trail with you don't smell like the woods. They smell BAD. Very bad. And after two days, so will you!<p>

Please tell me if it was actually funny, that'd be good to know. And if you use the term LOL (wow, that'd be intensely awesome) please specify if it was a metaphorical LOL (I grinned) or a literal LOL (people looked at me because I was laughing out loud). Kids these days with their non-literal text speak. ROTFL? Youtube isn't _that_ funny.

Oh, and this might possibly not be a one-shot. I have a little scene between Sakura, Ino, and Hinata floating around in my head. So a mindless two-shot it could be!


	2. The Telling

"I kissed Sai this morning."

Ino's head whipped around so fast her ponytail caught Hinata in the face. "What? Mmmfpht..." Mouthfuls of sandwich tend to impede speech. She swallowed and grabbed Sakura's arm, "Are you dating? I didn't know you liked him. Details! Now!"

_If Sakura is dating Sai then maybe Naruto won't be so hung up on her and then maybe he'll see-_

"No, nothing like that. It was... kind of an experiment?"

_Damn._

"An experiment? Only you could make your first kiss an experiment, Forehead." Sakura stuck her tongue out at Ino out of habit.

"Bite me. I'm not telling you anything."

"Whatever, you brought it up so you obviously want to tell," Ino winked at Hinata and leaned towards Sakura conspiratorially. "So, what happened?"

"Well, Sai and I have been spending every morning in the library since Kakashi's been training with Naruto," Sakura rushed out. Ino and Hinata nodded encouragingly; they were aware of that. Naruto was trying to master being wind natured or something or other. Cutting waterfalls in half. While not wearing a shirt. Well, Hinata knew that part, due to some, er, investigations. "And this morning he pulls out this book, the one you guys have been reading-"

"Midnight Confessions?" Ino squealed, "I love that book!" Hinata nodded emphatically and both stared off over Sakura's shoulder for a moment, dreamy smiles plastered on their faces.

"Um, yeah," Sakura shifted into their line of vision and they blinked at her. "Anyway, out of nowhere he just smells me to see if I smell like the girl in that book."

"She smells like wind on a cool day," Hinata stated knowingly. Ino nodded in agreement.

"Yeah..." Sakura drew out, glancing back and forth between the two. "So Sai was confused and he wanted to-"

"Wait, Hiriko tastes like ripe strawberries! Is that why he wanted to kiss you?" Ino spit out.

Sakura just stared. "You guys are way too into this book. But yeah, that's why we kissed."

There was a moment of silence between the three, their sandwiches abandoned in the center of the picnic blanket. "So..." Ino grinned, "what did he taste like?"

Sakura giggled. "Like warm?" She giggled some more. "It was really weird. He was all 'what did you have for breakfast this morning?' and then he grabs me and kisses me." Well, it was kind of like that.

"Well I guess that's kind of romantic..." Hinata smiled weakly and Ino made a face.

"Was he any good?" Ino asked.

"I think so? How do you know if it's good?" Ino shrugged and Hinata blushed slightly. "Yeah, I don't know either," Sakura replied, "but it was kind of fun."

"Did he smell good?" Hinata asked while toying with her napkin.

"Yeah, like clean laundry and... paints. He kind of smells like turpentine."

"Ew," Ino wrinkled her nose, "turpentine smells awful. I'd hate to smell like that."

"It's not so bad," Sakura defended. "It's kind of light on him. Besides, what do you smell like, Pig?"

Ino thrust an arm out between Sakura and Hinata, "Enchanted Forest."

Sakura put her nose down to Ino's arm and took a whiff. "That's not like any forest I've ever smelled."

"That's because it wasn't enchanted" Ino snapped pulling her arm away and knocking Hinata in the nose. It just wasn't her day.

Sakura leaned into Hinata and took a long sniff at her neck, "you smell like, like lavender?"

"Um, the staff uses lavender water in the laundry," Hinata politely explained as she tried to pull away from Sakura without seeming rude. Smelling her neck? That was just a little - close - for her taste.

Ino nodded sagely, "huh, that sounds pretty nice. Does that make you want to kiss her, Sakura?" Hinata turned bright pink and fell backwards trying to get away.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" Tenten asked out of nowhere. The older girl grinned down at the three of them as Hinata scrambled to right herself.

"Nothing much," Ino answered breezily. "Sakura was just telling us how she made out with Sai this morning and what he smelled like."

"Shut up!" Sakura hissed as she lunged for Ino. "It was just a kiss and it was no big deal" she explained frantically.

Tenten plopped down laughing. "Whatever. You gotta do who you gotta do."

Ino turned on Tenten, "who have you gone and kissed then?" Sakura's attention was drawn away from strangling Ino and Hinata's face seemed to be returning to its normal color.

Tenten raised an eyebrow and grinned, "well, there was this mission once. It was an escort mission and we were taking the daiymo's son to-"

"Yuuta-san? He is soooo hot!" Ino squealed and Sakura briefly wondered if she knew the name of every attractive male, real or imaginary.

"The very one," Tenten grinned. "Well, I saved his ass from a band of thieves and he gave me a pretty good thank you."

"You did it?" Ino gasped.

"No," Tenten furrowed her brow. "We made out. You're a pervert, Ino." Ino rolled her eyes in reply.

"Did he smell good?" Hinata couldn't figure out why she was fixated on this of all things. Naruto probably smelled like, like, um, ramen. She made a small face to herself. Maybe he didn't.

"Uh, I don't really remember. Like a guy? We were traveling and not really slapping on tons of scented lotion, like some people I know," she stated, staring at Ino.

"What do we smell like if we don't smell like lotion or laundry then?" Sakura asked. This was an intriguing idea to her. What did someone smell like down to their skin? "And I don't mean b.o. I mean when someone smells good, but like themselves."

There was a moment of silence. "Um, like the inside of your elbow?" Hinata ventured. The girls blinked and immediately shoved their noses into the crooks of their arms.

"Huh," Ino stated, "I'll have to wash off the lotion when I get home today". She grabbed Sakura's arm and inhaled. Then Hinata. They waited. She nodded, "it is different between people." She grabbed at Tenten's arm and Sakura reached for Hinata. For a few moments they all silently smelled each other's elbows, noting the distinct smell each girl had. Tenten was alternatively sniffing Sakura and Hinata's outstretched arms when it happened.

"Tenten?"

The girls all looked up together at a very, very confused Neji. "Lee-san and I were going to meet and, uh, train?" His eyes darted from one girl to the next. Hinata's face had returned to its earlier shade of pink. The other three, though, they looked decidedly like they were plotting something.

"Neji-kun," Ino cooed, "have a seat for a moment." Her hand snapped out and caught onto his wrist like a vice.

"Yes, Neji-san," Sakura echoed, grabbing his other wrist, "we're conducting an experiment."

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><p>Of course you would immediately go tell your girlfriends. Isn't that the entire point of having girlfriends? Recreational kissing requires telling.<p>

Thanks, disneytiger for the review. As you can see, I appropriated some of it. :D

On a random note, I'd imagine that ninja would make damn sure they didn't smell like anything. I mean, they're supposed to be all stalker-like and invisible so they really shouldn't smell all dreamy. So, for this world we'll pretend that official ninja uniforms are laundered officially with scent-less detergent.

The inside of my elbows smell like unicorn tears and the laughter of children. No joke. Hope you liked my two shot. :)


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